Weingarten Rights

SIX WORDS OF ADVICE: “SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP”

A. Your Rights to Under NLRB v. Weingarten, Inc., 420 U.S. 251 (1975)

In Weingarten, the United States Supreme Court held that the federal National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) “creates a statutory right in an employee to refuse to submit without union representation to an interview which he reasonably fears may result in his discipline.” 420 U.S.  at p.256 (italics supplied). Although the NLRA does not cover Unit 4 employees, the California Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act (HEERA) creates the same statutory right in Unit 4 employees. The Supreme Court limited this right as follows:

  1. “[T]he right arises only in situations where the employee requests representation.” Id. at 257 (italics supplied).
    1. The employer does not have to offer representation.
    2. The employee can waive his or her right to representation. (“[T]he employee may forgo his guaranteed right and, if he prefers, participate in an interview unaccompanied by his union representative.” Ibid.)
  2. “[T]he employee’s right to request representation as a condition of participation in an interview is limited to situations where the employee reasonably believes the investigation will result in disciplinary action.” Ibid. (italics supplied). “We would not apply the rule to such run-of-the-mill shop-floor conversations as, for example, the giving of . . .”
    1. instructions or . . .”
    2. “training or . . .”
    3. “needed corrections of work techniques.” Id. at 257-58 (citation omitted).

B. How to Invoke Your Weingarten Rights

  1. If you are called to attend a meeting with management and told that you might want to bring your union representative or that the purpose is to “get your side of the story regarding, “look into,” “investigate,” etc., certain “allegations,” “complaints,” “events,” etc., involving you, do all of the following:
    1. Request that the meeting be (re-)scheduled so that your union representative can be present. If you do not do this, you waive your right to union representation.
    2. If management honors your request for union representation, attend the meeting with your union representative and answer all questions truthfully. Lying during the meeting is grounds for discipline, even if the underlying allegations turn out to be false.
    3. If management does not honor your request for union representation, attend the meeting, recite the text under the heading “Weingarten Rights” on the Weingarten Rights Wallet Card below, and do not answer any questions. Failure to attend the meeting is grounds for discipline. If you answer any questions, you waive your Weingarten rights, even if you have previously invoked them, and your answers can be used against you.
  2. If you are called to attend a meeting with management but not told to bring your union representative or what the purpose of the meeting is, do all of the following:
    1. Ask what the purpose of the meeting is.
    2. If management answers that you might want to bring your union representative or that the purpose is to “get your side of the story regarding,” “look into,” “investigate,” etc., certain “allegations,” “complaints,” “events,” follow the steps outline in B.1.a-c above.
    3. If management answers in a way that does not lead you reasonably to believe that the meeting may result in disciplinary action against you, attend the meeting and answer all questions truthfully, subject to B.3 below. Failure to attend the meeting or lying during the meeting is grounds for discipline.
  3. If during any meeting with management for whatever stated or unstated purpose, you are at some point led reasonably to believe that the meeting may result in disciplinary action against you, continue to attend the meeting, recite the text under the heading “Weingarten Rights” on the Weingarten Rights Wallet Card below, and do not answer any questions unless management assures you that the meeting will not result in disciplinary action. Failure to continue to attend the meeting is grounds for discipline. If you answer any questions absence an assurance from management that the meeting will not result in discipline against you, you waive your Weingarten rights, even if you have previously invoked them, and your answers can be used against you.

C. Weingarten Rights Wallet Card: Copy It, Cut It out, and Keep It Safe

Weingarten Rights Card

Instructions:

1. Cut at solid lines
2. Fold in the middle 
3. Fill in your APC Steward’s name and phone number
4. Keep in your wallet at all times

Weingarten-Rights-Wallet-Card